What Do You Call That Place Again?

Talk about some adventurous eaters!  Bob has made good on his promise to try everything!  So far he has eaten papaya, snake fruit, and star fruit.  Thursday night we got them started off right by buying food from a cart out in the street, so we all had a good dose of sate!  Friday our helper made fried rice and lumpiah--which are sort of like egg rolls but HANDMADE and off the charts!  They are starting to see why we haven't lost any weight...

Saturday we had lunch at one of our favorite places.  They were game; eating curry and hot peppers (actually Mom did on accident) and Bob ordered the stingray!  Talk about rolling with it.  Wait til we get to the beach and he can have some fresh squid!  Yummy!!

Here they are saying, "I can do it myself!"  Taking their new money that is green, blue, purple, and red depending on denomination and buying a little something at the pretzel place.
Yep.  They even tried some of Angie's green dessert.  Sweet and soggy like frosted flakes you poured in the morning and ate for lunch.  

What are they thinking so far?  Driving is just as bad or worse than they imagined and there are a LOT of people here.  Its hard to explain because if you are from Louisville and have been to the Chow Wagon you think you have seen a lot of people but there is something different about seeing a LOT of people ALL the time.

First thing Sunday morning we head for the beach and they now have internet access at the place so we'll try to keep updating!!!

We Got 'Em

The Grandparents made it with all their baggage and very few worries, we think.  Its like Christmas!!

The Movies

Sunday we caught a matinee of Indiana Jones in our new city and we saw some interesting cultural things on the way.  First, any time the movie got the least bit suspenseful--people started clapping.  Yeah, clapping.  I am not sure why but when Indy was swinging or falling or about to swing or fall--people would start clapping.  They also laughed out loud a lot.  Maybe its just being used to jaded American audiences but I don't remember theatres full of people laughing usually.

Second, as we've told some folks.  It was FREEZING in there.  I am not sure why they kept the temp so low in there.  It sure doesn't happen where we live now.  Not that its hot inside but I can't imagine anyone forking over enough money on utilities (or toilet paper) to make people that cold.

Thirdly (and most importantly), there was NO POPCORN!  AAArrrggggghhhh!!  What?!?  No.  Popcorn.  No Popcorn.  Only caramel corn--the evil imposter of popcorn.  I have never been a fan.  I don't think I've ever finished an entire box of Cracker Jacks.  If you gave me one now, I'd be appreciative and say thanks.  Then eat a piece.  Then throw it away when you left.  If asked I would tell you, "It tasted just like I remember it!"

Caramel corn?  Give me a break.  Even Angie who can normally eat TWO large popcorns by herself at the movies didn't even finish her medium one.  What is to be made of people who don't eat popcorn with their movies?  They need our help...that is all I can figure.

Now you may be on of those caramel corn people and would like to take an opposing position (you're wrong) or worse yet a kettle corn fan (seriously in some ways kettle corn is worse since it masquerades as popcorn, then nails you--at least caramel corn is upfront about itself).  Go right ahead and disagree, I can handle disagreement especially from wrong people.

Greetings from Hamid's

Tonight we are having supper at Hamid's Corner restaurant.  Its run by Indians/South Asia folks.  This is one of our orders of nan.  That bread is my one fond memory of traveling to India (believe it or not dysentery is not my fond memory...)!

Hudson opted for the KFC nuggets and now is stealing Angie's bread.  Hamid has a huge screen up and he is hoping for dinner and a show!!

I hope you can appreciate two things:  Angie ASKED to come here and we had to take four pictures to get one with the red neon on.  That is just the lengths we are wiling to go for you, dear reader!!

BTW, we signed a lease on the house this afternoon so we are locked in for at least a year.  Come see us and we'll bring you to Hamid's!!

Props to Hamid for the free wi-fi.  That is forward thinking!!!

Housewarming

This seems to be the place we are landing.  Its a nice corner lot.  The house seems big but we have to share it with three other immigrant families.  Just kidding.  Its like a duplex that goes the length of the street (a "link house" they call it).  Anyway, its around 800 square feet on each level, so not as big as it seems from outside.  It does have an automatic gate, though, with a remote control for which Caleb will be very thankful :-)

This is inside looking back across the living room to the front door.  Notice the "grills".  Of course in KY if you're home has a grill it means a built-in BBQ.  Here it means bars on all the doors and windows.  Doesn't that make you feel safe?
Standing at the back of the house this is looking into the kitchen.  Its unfurnished so all we need is a stove top, oven for under the counter, microwave, cabinets, and everything else.  The landlord is fine with any improvements we make as long we un-improve it back to its original condition when we leave.
The downstairs bathroom.  This will house our washer, too, so we'll lose the shower area, which is not shown.  The dryer will be out on the front porch like we have now!!  At least we think that is what we will need to do.
This is what we were looking for!! That is grass.  Only corner lots here have grass and we found a corner lot.  This is more grass than our current neighborhood has combined since they are building on our only green space.  Its not big enough for wiffle ball but is big enough for us to tell the kids to go outside and play.

The Latest Update

It seems as though we have found a place.  Friday we rented a car and drove all over the city until we were exhausted and frustrated (well, Craig was) and late Friday night we got word that the landlord wanted to go ahead with the rental process.  Today we are going back to the house to measure the rooms so we will know what kind of furniture we can start thinking about (IKEA!).  

So at least at this point things seem to be going well.  We will try to post some pictures of the place and other junk as available/we can.  We moved to a hotel that has a pool but doesn't have free internet.  So the updates aren't as frequent (read: free).  

Thanks for being there for us!  The photos are from lunch on Saturday at KFC.  We are just in the pix to try to get the backgrounds.  You can look at the whole thing to get a feel for the KFC anyway!! 

Richie asked about what the KFCs here have.  The current promo is for the "chicken chop".  You can get a Col Sanders salt and pepper shaker with the purchase of a chicken product for just $4 or so. They have mashed potatoes and gravy which is different from where we live now. They also have something called the "Colonel chicken rice combo" but I am not sure what it is!!  Also, they have Pepsi which is almost never found in restaurants where we live.

Searching is not going so well

We keep trying but are not having much success in the house hunting.  Keep on lifting us up.  We were able to console ourselves with some TGIFridays last night and saw some other good places, too (Aunt Annie's!).  And for some reason Kenny Roger's Roasters is BIG here.  They are all over the place.  Thanks for your help!!

We're On an Adventure!

We made it and boy is it HOT here.  We are doing great and will write more at a later time.

Its Really That Bad

Caleb tries to say he likes these but there is no way.  A seaweed pretzel is wrong for so many reasons!!!

(edited 5/20/08)  I DO LIKE THEM :-(

I finally let her...

Here are some things i finally let my mom do.   CUT MY HAIR!!!

I also finally convinced her to let me go to the movies with my friends, but no adults =-0   

( I only spent 10.00  dollars too) 

                       I have succeeded in life.

The Holidays Never Go Away

This picture is from Mother's Day.  Notice the Christmas Tree in the photo!!

Did you see the performance?

Its below!!  It took a while to get it loaded so it "officially" went up yesterday but wouldn't load onto the site until today.  Sorry for the confusion and enjoy!!

Skipping School(without Caleb =-(

The Performance

Hey, that's new!

Sometimes we just have the neatest experiences.  You see things you've never seen before or you see them in a way you've never seen them before.  That happened to us today as we were driving only to look up and see ... drum roll, please ...

a TOTALLY NAKED man walking down the street.  He didn't even have shoes on.  The funny thing was he was carrying himself with more confidence than anyone else we've seen walking.  I guess being crazy does that for a guy ;-)

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Can you sense the drama?

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day we had a fabulously decorated package and a big lunch at a Thai restaurant.  We even let Angie get a refill on cashew chicken (which isn't free).  That is how I roll.  One huge difference this year.  Since normally we were nearly the last people out of the place on Mother's Day, we hit the restaurants in time to wait an hour or two.  Since there is no Mother's Day here, no such problems!  We went right in.  Sorry about the washed out photo.  You are not nearly as disappointed in it as Angie is!

Seriously, THAT is a huge banana

What is your hobby?

If you have ever been around a person who is learning English, you have probably heard the question, "What is your hobby?"  Every time I hear it strikes me as odd.  A hobby?  Uhmm .... a hobby?  I don't really think I've got one.  The problem with that is that its not one of the answers a person expects.  

If they say, "How are you?"  You MUST say, "Fine."  Nothing else will do.  Not "Great, thanks!" Not, "Awesome."  Anything except the word "Fine" and you're going to get a weird look in return. 

When they ask about your hobby you have some latitude: soccer, chess, stalking celebrities.  You just have to have one.  Which brings me to my new hobby.  Reading English language T-shirts.  I love it.  Sometimes they are so good I'll go across the store to get Angie so she can read it too.  

I guess I'll have to start making photos because they are SO FUNNY but I can never remember them when I get home.  Finally I broke down and bought some shirts tonight for $3.50. The problem was that after finally finding some XL shirts I realize they are Asian XL which means they are for a person who weighs 140 and not 180 (he said optimistically).

So Caleb has inherited the new shirts but at least you can get a feel for my hobby:

Green Light is a brand name.  The slogan "Loud Than Anywear" is why I bought the shirt.  The slogans on shirts are just SO close that they are hilariously wrong.  As a language student and full-time person who goes around maiming innocent words, its nice to look at a sign like the CLOSE sign hanging on Tony Roma's and laugh at someone besides myself for a change. (I mean what does that sign mean?  Am I CLOSE to the restaurant?  Am I supposed to CLOSE the door? No, its for after hours when they are CLOSED!)

So anyway, now you know my hobby.  Transferring my aggression--I mean, T-shirt reading.

D-Runs

Today we were out looking for a restaurant where we would be meeting our friends.  One the way we saw a place called "D-Runs".  I assume they were going for a rapper motif but believe it or not I don't want to eat at a place called "D-Runs" no matter what their motivation is!!!

Say Goodbye to Green Space

This is the one place in our neighborhood that is green.  Seriously, every spot has something on it. 

But this empty lot (which our kids generally call "The Field") is to be no more.  Last week construction started a new building.

You can almost hear the collective sigh as that place almost always had kids playing in it.  Such is life and "progress" though.  

Kicked Back!

We totally LOVE this guy kicked back and enjoying himself!  This is one of the hundreds of places to get your flat tires fixed around town.  While stopped at a red light we saw this hard-working man.

Anyone else see your Grand-dad there?

Derby Party

We had a Derby party of sorts on Saturday as some folks with Kentucky ties got together and had all the excitement of a real Derby party (minus mint juleps, gambling, horses, extended family, Big Red--the drink not that odd glob from WKU, grilling out and very hot ... no not this year, it's freezing ever-changing Kentucky weather).  In case you are wondering; that leaves Derby pie and hats.  But it was GREAT pie!

We did have hats, although they were a bit wanting perhaps. I know you are wondering about those drinks in Louisville Card cups considering Craig's face. Also absent from the party was any Kentucky bourbon and Falls City beer (all alcohol, OK?).

We were unsure about the rouge below in a KENTUCKY shirt but after some tap-dancing about it being a STATE (Commonwealth, actually) shirt and NOT a UK shirt the host allowed her to come in. I believe she was reared early on in Barren County and probably like Angie, considers "the first Saturday in May" as BCHS prom night and not the biggest day for 3-year-olds. Hence, the shirt is understandable.

Another Day, Another Coffee Joint

We are still without internet.  Someone came from the company today and said the modem was bad.  I am afraid it got our cool Apple wireless thing, too.  We have lots of lightning (sigh).  He switched it out for us, then ran a "stall pattern" and then went home for the weekend.  Some things are the same all over the world. 

At any rate it gives us more to chance to go out and sit and eat and use free wi-fi at places.  

This is a photo of our reflection from across the seating area.  Tonight I am having the frozen moccachino.  Angie is just having a donut.  

The funny thing is my supper cost $1.94 at this mall.  My moccachino cost$2.68.  Right now the three kids have been checked into a childcare facility (Jump N Gym).  Its like a play place but you don't have to watch them.  BRILLIANT.  And you get GREAT childcare for $2.68 (same as my drink).

This morning we went downtown and the two youngest got some vaccinations.  Caleb's was not in stock ... so he didn't get stuck.  Poor boy.

Talk about irritating.  We moved inside to get away from the smoke and took a picture from our new location.  Some yahoo has on the same shirt as Angie.  That makes me so mad!!

No 'Net Service

We had a storm on Wednesday night and have not had internet service at home since then. Thursday is a national holiday here so no one is working to fix the problem, maybe tomorrow. Now we are eating at a coffee place with free wi-fi, so wanted to let ya'll know we are out here ... just a bit more out-of-touch than normal!